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Gillard and Obama head to East Asia Summit

Louise YaxleyUpdated
Mon 19 Nov 2012, 6:24 PM AEDT

The East Asia Summit is one of the most important diplomatic events in Australia's region - and a real test of President Obama's so-called pivot towards the Western Pacific. The forum gathers nations with an interest in the area, not just the 10 member ASEAN Group.

Transcript

MARK COLVIN: It's one of the most important diplomatic events in Australia's region, and a real test of President Obama's so-called pivot towards the western Pacific.

It's the East Asia summit, a forum for nations with an interest in the area, not just the 10-member ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) group. President Obama and Julia Gillard will both be attending for example.

Our correspondent Louise Yaxley is in Cambodia, I asked her whether this would be a business-as-usual Asian summit.

LOUISE YAXLEY: This one is different Mark because of the nature of this region that while there is stagnant economies in Europe this region has a much healthier outlook economically. And the other element is that the key players here are all now taking this part of the world more seriously.

It's really been noted that President Obama is here on this three-day swing through South-East Asia, that he hasn't cut it short or returned to the US because of the crisis in the Middle East. He is staying here. His re-election indicates that he is now able to get on with four years of this 'pivot to Asia', as he calls it.

And it's not only President Obama and the US that are looking to Asia, but Russia as well, and the Indians also, they call it looking it east. So some of the big players in this region are here and they are actually focussing on what they can achieve in this area.

MARK COLVIN: You mentioned President Obama, he's in Burma right now, he will be at the East Asia Summit. And I think that the Americans are emphasising that his visit is not an endorsement of Burma in total, more an acknowledgement that there is change going on?

LOUISE YAXLEY: That's right, 'flickers of progress' I think is the phrase that he's used. So he's saying he's there because it's an encouragement.

He has faced some criticism that this is premature, that he shouldn't have gone yet. But he's handled it in an interesting way. He hasn't gone to the capital of Burma that the regime has created, Naypyidaw, he is in Rangoon, which is the traditional capital. That in itself is quite symbolic, so he's not endorsing their decision in that sense.

He's meeting both Burma's Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi the opposition leader. So it's an even-handed approach if you like. It's almost as if he - it's a meeting with both sides as equals rather than one side as an opposition leader and one side as the formal leader.

MARK COLVIN: Now something that a lot of the South-East Asian nations are worried about is China's increasing insistence that it owns large parts of the South China Sea that they think belong to them. Is that going to come up here?

LOUISE YAXLEY: Yes it already has at the ASEAN meeting, where the ASEAN nations, the South-East Asian nations are saying that what they want, and there's quite a bit of work done, is a code of conduct for the South China Sea. That is a way to sort this problem out in a formal way. And the next step that they want to see happen is the start of formal talks about what that would - what would be in that.

And last night we saw a blow to that in that we saw the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman indicating that there was no timetable, no timeframe for these formal talks to start. When he was asked he said that - when he was asked a question about this code of conduct he said, 'well talks have been going on'. It was put to him, 'yes, but what about the formal start of doing it in the next stage?' And he really brushed that off. So an indication that China is not prepared to take the step that the South-East Asians want.

And of course this region, because there are so many countries with interests in the South China Sea, and the reason they have these interests is partly because there are so many resources there that countries are hoping to exploit.

MARK COLVIN: China is there at the East Asian Summit?

LOUISE YAXLEY: Yes, it's Premier Wen Jiabao, so he's the outgoing premier. But he's here, he has a series of meetings, including with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and other key players.

So China is playing - is very obvious in its presence here. It's of course close in its relationship with Cambodia, a really strong ally. And there's a very strong sense that the Cambodians are playing up the Chinese presence here, there's a big sign welcoming Premier Wen. So there's a real focus on Premier Wen's presence here.

MARK COLVIN: Now one of the areas where there's been real worry is the tension between China and Japan. Are there any talks planned between the Chinese and the Japanese? Is there any sign of that easing at all?

LOUISE YAXLEY: No there aren't. And the Japanese presence here is somewhat complicated by the fact that now there is an election looming in Japan. President - sorry, Prime Minister Noda is here, and he'll be having talks with Prime Minister Julia Gillard. But it does appear that there's a complete change on the way for the Japanese electoral landscape, political landscape with that election and the way the polls are looking in Japan.

But no, the ongoing tension between China and Japan is not something that we're seeing at this meeting itself at this stage.

MARK COLVIN: And finally, and briefly, what are the central Australian interests there?

LOUISE YAXLEY: Well Australia is using this meeting to spread the word about its Asian century White Paper, especially that plan for expanding the teaching of Asian languages. The Trade Minister, Craig Emerson, will be here briefing on that.

And as I said the Prime Minister has some key meetings, including with Japan's Prime Minister Noda and with Premier Wen. So yet another opportunity for Australia to hold talks with China.